NEW
ZEALAND
PHILATELIC
POST
OFFICE
BULLETIN
Inquiries about New Zealand and Island Dependencies Stamps are to be addressed to the Director-General, Postal Division, G.P.O., Wellington, N.Z. July, 1966
No. 40.
I.
Christmas Stamp, 1966.
This year's Christmas stamp will be a reproduction of "The Virgin with Child" by Carlo Maratta. The stamp is being printed by the photogravure process in four colours by Messrs Harrison and Sons Ltd., London. The denomination is 3d and there are 60 stamps to a sheet. The sheet value is 15s. The stamp is to be placed on sale on 3rd October. Unless supplies are exhausted earlier the stamp will be withdrawn from sale at post offices on 7th January, 1967, but may continue to be ordered by post from the Postal Division, General Post Office, Wellington, until 31st July, 1967. Background Notes: w.aratta was a distinguished and successful painter of the 17th century and when his art came to be noticed by Pope Alexander VII in the middle 1600's he secured many important commissions for altar pieces in Italian churches. He also painted portraits of members of the Papal Court and was the foremost portrait painter during that period. He painted many religious compositions and ~osterity owes him much for his restoration work in preserv1ng the frescoes of Raphael in the Vatican. Maratta was acquainted with history, architecture, and perspective and used his knowledge skilfully. The original painting of "The Virgin with Child" hangs in the Kunsthistorische Museum of Vienna.